Who is popular today?

Food cards issued by the Ministry of Social Development are traditionally used at Christmas to give members of Parliament a charitable instrument to meet the needs of their poorest constituents.
Each Christmas food support card is charged with $550 and is valid for three months from the date of issue.
It's not how the cards are normally used. Food cards are a poverty alleviation grant given to families in dire need who have been evaluated using a means test who have agreed to participate in a "developmental programme" identified by the Social Development Ministry.
In December 2022, $4.5 million worth of food cards were given to MPs, with each parliamentary representative receiving 200 cards to be distributed according to their judgment.
It's an act of charity at a time of widespread festivity and conspicuous consumption.
It was unnerving to hear from MPs Khadijah Ameen and David Lee on Wednesday that constituents using cards had been embarrassed at supermarket checkout counters when the food cards failed to work.
Well-to-do shoppers are often shocked and a little humiliated when their credit cards, the very last step in a process of item selection, offloading and repacking, fail to work. Even for a moment.
It's a hiccup that draws sidelong glances from fellow shoppers and gentle urging from the cashier to "try it again."
Imagine for a moment, how that minor humiliation is amplified for someone who doesn't have much money, is heavily dependent on the meagre goods that a food card can purchase and is faced with the prospect of abandoning their shopping at the counter and leaving the supermarket with nothing.
Some MPs haven't received their food cards for distribution, and while Ms Ameen and Mr Lee have raised the alarm about the situation, it has affected members on both sides of the Parliamentary aisle.
It's unclear why the issues arose at this late stage of the distribution process, but food cards have proven a problem for the Social Development Ministry.
In July, following investigations into the disappearance of 32 food cards, used to make purchases totalling $117,200, four employees of the ministry faced disciplinary charges.
The cards were discovered to have been stolen in August 2022, the result of a scrappy chain of custody of the financial instruments. The investigation would eventually discover at least 56 cards were missing.
Some of the cards had accumulated large balances because of monthly top-ups with no spending activity. One card found in a ministry drawer was charged with a value of $39,000.
The Treasury cannot afford a social support programme that leaks funds to the undeserving while those in need of that support are subjected to unnecessary embarrassment when they are provided.
These ideas should be basic guideposts of the food support card programme.

The post Mismanaged charity appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.